Celebrating 10 Years in Fort Worth - Texas Wesleyan School of Law ...

feature story — law school announces the bernie schuchmann conference center • by john m. veilleux • photos by chastity beene, abby e. dozier, sargent n. hill, paul b. scudder, bernie schuchmann
feature story
Bernie’s fall 2007 academic support group at the law school. The real strength of the academic support program,
Bernie said, lies in the fact that it helps students navigate the rough and rapid waters of law school.
should never complain about anything
that is happening to me in my life again.
Those defendants are the ones with
real troubles and need as much help as
you can possibly give a person. I have
been a defendant in litigation, so I know
how it feels to be falsely or erroneously
accused. These are the people I most
want to help.”
Peter Fleury, Bernie’s supervising
attorney at the federal public defender’s
office, said Bernie’s life experience really
provided him with an advantage during
his internship.
“He was able to roll up his sleeves and
work hard,” Fleury said. “Bernie is very
intelligent and his business experience
really helped in our cases dealing with
white-collar crime. He was really the
best intern we’ve had, and we are all
very appreciative of his contributions.”
Bernie said he believed the federal public
defender’s office was understaffed. The
lawyers and defendants, he said, both
needed his help. And giving back
through the law is what Bernie said now
drives him to make a difference.
Proudly Committed
to a School with ‘Soul’
Bernie said he felt compelled to make
this gift because he was proud of his
association with a school he described
as having ‘soul.’
“This school changes people’s perspective
on life through teaching both academics
and attitude, and I think they are what
give this place soul,” Bernie said. “It has
all the rigor of law school, but it also has
a personality, and I don’t want that strong
personality to dissipate. I hope that any
contribution I make will help go toward
keeping this school’s soul intact.”
Citing a personal example of the school’s
soul, Bernie recalled a conversation
with Professor Kay Elkins-Elliott, who
approached him and discussed her
hopes for the then-upcoming Southwest
Regional Mediation Competition at
South Texas Law School last spring.
“I had not taken her mediation
course,” Bernie said. “But based on
our conversation, I put together a
group of students who would compete
with less than a month to go before
the competition.”
Texas Wesleyan fielded two entries with
the group of students Bernie patched
together, with Stacy Jewett ’07 and 3L
Clay Graham making up one team, and
Carlie Fraser ’07 and Bernie the other.
The teams were immersed almost daily
with rehearsals led by Elkins-Elliott
and others she brought in to help the
group prepare for the competition.
Fraser and Jewett were the only team
members who had taken Elkins-Elliott’s
mediation class.
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Photo by Abby E. Dozier
“Kay brought in numerous individuals
to help get us up to speed,” Bernie said.
“She brought in alumni and she set up
video cameras to review our practices —
all to take us from two teams with little
to no experience to teams that could
compete against South Texas Law School,
the long standing regional champion of
negotiation in this region.”
Photo by Chastity Beene Photo by Paul B. Scudder
And the result was spectacular, with the
two teams sweeping the competition,
setting up a Wesleyan v. Wesleyan
showdown in the final round. Jewett
and Graham went on to finish first, and
Fraser and Bernie finished second.
“Many people, when they get older,
turn to religion, community service,
or charitable organizations as a way of
making a difference,” Bernie said. “I have
turned to the law. I get more satisfaction
out of being involved in the law and
helping other people in relation to the
law than I ever did in other endeavors. I
personally think it is a higher calling and
Texas Wesleyan woke that up in me.” z
Bernie explains I.R.A.C., the curve,
and color-coded book briefing.
Stacy Jewett ‘07, 3L Clay Graham, Bernie Schuchmann ‘07,
and Carlie Fraser ‘07. The group swept the Southwest
Regional Mediation Competition in the spring of 2007.